FAQ -  Incoming First-Year Students

Does the University of Georgia School of Law require that I purchase a computer?

No.  Unlike some other institutions, the University of Georgia does not require that in-coming students have their own computers. The computer, however, has become an almost essential tool for law students, and most of the members of the UGA Law student body have their own computers.   

Is a laptop or a desktop computer better?

Either a laptop (also called a notebook or portable computer) or a desktop computer will fulfill your computing needs; however, each type has advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when choosing a computer.  While the portability of laptops can be very attractive, they are far more vulnerable to theft.  Furthermore, generally speaking, you will get much more performance for your money with a desktop computer. 

The portability of laptops, however, can be a great asset.   A laptop can also be used for note taking in classes, at home and when you are traveling.   A laptop can also be connected to the wireless network at the law school so that you can easily access Internet and network resources.  All of the Law School's classrooms, the law library, and many common areas have wireless Internet access.  Also, most of the UGA campus' outdoor areas provide wireless access.   Furthermore, students whose professors offer the option may take in-class exams on their laptop computer.   You should consider very seriously, therefore, acquiring a laptop with a conforming wireless card.  The Law School's web site includes a wireless FAQ (http://www.law.uga.edu/library/cs/wireless.html) that should help you select the proper wireless card. 

Can you recommend specifications for purchasing a new computer?

We recommend that you buy a national brand PC such as Dell, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Sony, etc. You might want to consider buying one of the brands for which UGA's TEC services provides warranty support.   Ideally, you should buy a notebook with a three-year warranty which will carry you all the way through law school.   There are a wide variety of features and options available to the computer buyer today.  We encourage prospective computer buyers to do as much research as possible on the subject before they make a purchasing decision.  Sources for general advice on computer specifications and peripherals, as well as product reviews for new equipment, include both published sources (e.g. Consumer Reports) and a large assortment of Web sites , e.g. CNET (http://www.cnet.com), ZDNet (http://zdnetshopper.cnet.com/), Epinions.com  (http://www.epinions.com/), and many others. 

PC-compatible computers are  more common at the University than computers based on the Apple or other platforms.  Our law school computer labs contain PC-compatible computers.  Exams on laptops are optional.  However, the software for taking exams in-class (Examsoft) requires Windows.  It will run on a PC or an Intel Mac (Mac Book or Mac Book Pro) with Windows XP installed using Boot Camp.  It will not run on a Mac OS.  For more information on computer support available for Macs, view the Help Desk  chart at the end of this document.

Warranty and repair services are available on campus through the University's Telecommunications, Electronics, and Computer (TEC) Services (http://www.tec.uga.edu/).

How do I connect to the Internet from off-campus?

We strongly recommend that you establish your Internet service subscription before law school classes begin.  Many law school and legal research resources such as Westlaw, Lexis and library research databases are available via the web.  Also, several law school professors have incorporated web resources into their course materials. 

Students living off campus will have to make their own arrangements for Internet service through a third-party Internet Service Provider (ISP).    The hardware needed will depend on the type of service you select; please refer to the specific service you are interested in for details.

E-mail is the official method of communication for the University of Georgia School of Law.  Even if you have another email account, you are required to have an official UGAMail account since all law school communications will be sent to and must originate from UGAMail accounts.   In order to establish a a ugamail account, you must have a MyID.  See https://www.myweb.uga.edu/myid/ for more details. 

What kind of software do I need?

We suggest that you purchase an office suite for all-purpose productivity.  As an alternative,  you might want to consider downloading a free copy of  Open Office.

We also strongly recommend that you install virus-protection software (updated with the latest virus definitions) on your computer.  Making sure that you have up to date anti-virus software on your PC is the most important step you can take to help yourself have a trouble free computing experience.   In fact, the University of Georgia has licensed F-secure; an anti-virus program for use by all University faculty, staff, and students. It is available for download from: http://www.virus.uga.edu/ 

What types of hardware and software are available in the law school computer labs?

The law school computer labs and public areas contain approximately 30 PCs.   In addition to Internet access and numerous legal research resources, we provide the Microsoft Office Suite (including PowerPoint and Excel)  and Corel WordPerfect.  Laser printing is available from our computer labs at a cost of 5 cents per copy.  A color laser printer is also available at a cost of 25 cents per copy.  We also provide a scanning workstation with OCR software.

What type of computer support does the Law School Computing Services Help Desk provide to students?

Computing Services is happy to help you with your computer problems or questions.  Right now we are only able to fully support a limited range of issues.  However, we will always give advice on any computing topic.

We recommend that you purchase an extended three-year warranty for your computer.  Warranty and repair services are available on campus through the University's Telecommunications, Electronics, and Computer (TEC) Services (http://www.tec.uga.edu/).

This chart is not all inclusive but is a general guideline for our Help Desk policy regarding student laptop support.

Category	Product (where appropriate)	PC	Mac
Law School wireless network	Most brands of 802.11a/b/g-compliant wireless cards	Yes	Yes
Exams on laptop	ExamSoft	Yes	Yes *
Printing from Laptops to Law School printers		Yes	No
Virus protection problems	F-secure	Yes	No
Laptop hardware problems		No	No
Software installation/problems		No	No
Data loss/backup		No	No
Operating system upgrades		No	No
Home computer/wireless		No	No

* Only on an Intel Mac running Windows XP using Boot Camp

Conclusion
If you have any further questions about computing services, please contact the Law School Computing Services Help Desk, lawhelp@listserv.uga.edu or (706) 542-0895.